AGRICULTURE FIELD ENGINEER: BASED IN BEIRUT

Organization:

CARE International in Lebanon

Department/Division:

Program

Unit:

Economic Empowerment

Position Title:

Agriculture field engineer

Work Location:

Beirut - Tripoli

Supervisor:

Agriculture Technical Specialist

Job Summary:

CARE is a leading relief and development non-governmental organization working to end global poverty. Established in 1946, it is now a confederation composed of 14 members and 4 affiliates. Working in over 95 countries around the world, CARE is reaching more than 83 million people through its programs. With more than 11,000 employees worldwide, we have a strong local presence: 95% of our staff are nationals of the countries where our programs are implemented. 

Care international in Lebanon (CIL) is implementing a regional response to the Syrian Crisis to meet the immediate and most urgent needs of the women, men, boys and girls who have fled Syria. CARE International in Lebanon (CIL) is supporting local communities with their longer-term needs and basic rights through WASH, Shelter, Protection, and longer term economic development solutions and activities in collaboration with local partner organizations in the North, South, Beirut, and Mount Lebanon Governorates.

The agriculture engineer (AE) position will contribute to the implementation of livelihood projects in CARE International in Lebanon. Specifically, the AE will work within a team on a project aimed to support farmers and agrofood processors in North Lebanon, Mount Lebanon, and the South.

The project approach will be to facilitate the improvement of access to sustainable livelihoods opportunities benefitting vulnerable households and individuals, particularly women and youth in the agri-food industry.

CARE International in Lebanon (CIL) supports local businesses and individuals. The agriculture engineer will primary contribute to the achievement of the objective by working on identifying potential opportunities for farmers and agrofood processors (existing and scalable micro, small and medium enterprises /MSMEs), and facilitating access to the necessary inputs to support their sustainability (capacity building on best practices and access to market).

Supervises

None

Working Conditions:

One based in Mount Lebanon and South and one based in North Lebanon

Salary:

Based on CIL salary scale

Employment Start Date:

October 2018

Duration of Contract:

1 year

Contract Type:

Fixed Term Employment Contract

Other contract elements:

Benefits: Social security/Health Insurance & Transport allowance.

The direct supervisor reserves the right to adapt this job description at any time during employment according to needs.

Any extension of this contract is dependent on performance review and funding availability.

Education & Certification:

BS in Anthropology or Social Sciences or equivalent.

Minimum Education Level:

Masters or bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Engineering

Proven Experience:

At least 3 years previous experience with agriculture Support Project preferably with an L/INGO

IT / Software / Skills:

Familiarity with MS Office software, such as Excel

Language Skills:

Language                  Speaking                                     Reading                     Writing

Arabic                    Fluent/Mother tongue Professional             Professional

English                      Working Knowledge Professional             Professional

French                       Optional                                   Optional                    Optional

Competencies

• Strong capacities in project cycle management and budget follow-up.
• Strong capacity to coordinate with a team, coalition and consortium.
• Outstanding skills in establishing partnerships and strengthening capacity of local partners with private sector actors and players, as well as with Local Communities and Local & National CSO.
• Excellent capacity to supervise, staff local partner organizations in a sub-grantee relationship and provide information in a timely manner to CARE’s international partners and senior management.
• Strong understanding of the needs and challenges of the Agricultural and food processing SME Sector
• Familiarity with the Lebanese economy, market, Labor Market and Social Entrepreneurship.
• Very good communication, coordination and diplomacy.
• Integrity, fairness and impartiality.
• Ability to manage sensitive cases and confidential information.
• Ability to work under pressure

Detailed Responsibilities & Tasks

Responsibility #1: Project Implementation

• Assist in the development of the project’s detailed workplan, with roles and responsibilities clearly defined, and check progress against targets in regular program meetings within his/her designated area.
• Manage all service providers and consultants related to the program activities and ensure logistical support is provided, as well as ensuring that they meet the deliverables as set in their Scope of Work.
• Coordinate closely with local authorities and farmers to establish, document and check criteria for beneficiary selection into the project, to ensure that these are perceived to be fair by local stakeholders and to ensure full transparency in the selection process
• Ensure the safety of program participants
• Conduct technical assessment to identify the most in-need farmers to implement the project activities.
• Identify the need of the farmers during the technical assessment to include in the training.
• Support with the oversight of procurement of all materials for in kind grants for food processors, cooperatives and farmers
• Support with the coordination of payment procedures, including documentation, approval and actual payment, working closely with the project team and finance department in CARE.
• Ensure the agriculture and food processing support component elaboration phase as per donor agreement, CARE guidelines, and agreed implementation strategy.
• Manage trainers’ team in their field efforts with regards to outreach, training, and other related activities
• Provide oversight for all training activities, and think through how best to link training beneficiaries with work opportunities (youth and vulnerable women component)
• Provide direct technical assistance to value chain actors to assist in upgrading activities and overseeing implementation in appropriate locations based on final value chain selection.
• Oversee relevant capacity building to agriculture and agro-food actors (including farmers, producers, and resellers)
• Collaborate with bilateral projects across the region to strengthen higher ends of value chains.
• Monitor, evaluate and suggest changes and improvements in program and materials based on observations and discussions with stakeholders
• Develop a strong approach for a better community mobilization and participation (Through local stakeholders as well as with Right Holders/or local population) in order to improve the access to livelihoods.
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to CARE and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.

Responsibility #2: Project Team & partnership Management  

• Coordinate with management of local partners to ensure that they are well informed of project activities and performance in regard to agreed-upon work plan deliverables.
• Support the Project Officers and partners with beneficiary selection
• Support with the identification with key stakeholders and predetermined criteria, and coordination.

Responsibility #3: Reporting & Information sharing

• Support the project team to maintain all documentation relating directly to the project activities required to ensure accountability to the donor
• Support the M&E to monitor and document/report on the progress of the activities.
• Support the M&E in monitoring the progress of the farmers and food processors during the training.
• Ensure project data and achievements are up dated and reported monthly
• Support and feed into monitoring and evaluation activities
• Ensure partner NGOs regularly report to CARE according to established procedures.
• Draft narrative and quantitative reports as per CARE internal requirements and donor requirement
• Participate in monitoring activities to enable CARE to assess both progress against activities and achievement of program objectives
• Ensure that feedback mechanism is known to all beneficiaries, and that posters, flyers and business cards are distributed and visible to enable beneficiaries to provide feedback on activities being implemented.

Responsibility #4: Communication and Visibility:

• Ensure the program has appropriate visibility for the donor and for CARE.
• Highlight opportunities for gathering success stories from the field;
• Support in the organization of field visits by donors, peer agencies, CARE Members, Media, etc.

Responsibility #5: Representation:

• Represent CARE at local coordination meetings
• Identify opportunities for coordination and maintain regular engagement with stakeholders
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Master’s or bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Engineering.
• At least 3 years previous experience with agriculture Support Project preferably with an L/INGO
• Experience providing training to farmers.
• Knowledge of crop management, fertilization, irrigation/fertigation and post-harvest handling practices.
• Familiarity with market and post-harvest requirements for cooling, packaging and transportation.
• Good knowledge of safety requirements and regulations for working with hazardous materials.
• Good record keeping computer skills (MS Word and Excel).
• Excellent communication skills in English and Arabic.
• Ability to take initiative and work independently.

Knowledge and Experience

• At least 3years’ experience in relevant programming
• Experience implementing agricultural programs is an advantage
• Experience in MSME support is a plus
• Demonstrated ability to manage and communicate effectively with team members of varied work styles;
• Demonstrated flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving;
• Proven ability to learn quickly
• Ability to effectively represent CARE and its interests to key stakeholders;
• Oral and written Arabic required
• Oral and written English skills preferred
• Ability to work effectively with an ethnically diverse team in a sensitive environment;
• Community mobilization 
• Implementation of skills development and employability trainings programs is a plus
• Experience with NGOs is a plus

Desirable

• Knowledge of the main Lebanese economic sector, Business environment and common practices in Lebanon, and of international guidelines.
• Demonstrable experience in engaging with private sector and micro enterprises (Knowledge and Technology Transfer as well as access to finance)  
• Knowledge of the socio-economic circumstances in Lebanon

CARE is an equal opportunity employer and gives consideration for employment to qualified applicants without regard to race, gender, color, religion, and sex.